Work with thought leaders and academic experts from University of British Columbia

I am broadly interested in the factors that promote or diminish happiness and well-being. My research program explores how constant connectivity to the Internet impacts people’s relationships and well-being and how we can harness technology to improve well-being and promote positive behavioral change. I am a Vanier Scholar and a Rising Star of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). I have written for *The* *New York Times*, *The Conversation*, and *Psychology Today*, and my work has been covered by other prestigious publications such as *The* *Economist, BBC, NPR, Forbes, Fast Company, Time Magazine, The Wall Stree Journal, National Geographic,* and *The Washington Post*. I have consulted for companies such as Ipsos, Canvas8, and Luce Research. See more at www.kushlev.com

Dr. Shilpa Patil is a highly experienced cancer researcher with a strong background in Preclinical studies. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from the University of Göttingen in 2020, where she focused on developing novel treatments for pancreatic cancer. Prior to that, she completed her MSc in Regenerative Medicine from Manipal University in 2014 and her BSc in Biotechnology from the same institution in 2012. With over 6 years of research experience, Dr. Patil has worked at prestigious institutions such as the University of British Columbia, University of Göttingen and JNCASR. Her expertise lies in the areas of cancer biology, epigenetics, cell and molecular biology, and regenerative medicine. She has published numerous research articles in reputed journals and has presented her work at various international conferences. Dr. Patil is a dedicated and passionate scientist, committed to using her knowledge and skills to contribute to the fight against cancer. She is driven by her curiosity to unravel complex biological processes and her desire to make a positive impact in the field of cancer research. She is also driven to bridge the academia-industry gap.

Based in Boston, MA, I am a recent PhD graduate in Physical Chemistry from Boston University with experience across multiple disciplines such as mathematics, statistics, physics, and chemistry. My Ph.D. research focused on the spectroscopy studies of 2D quantum materials.

My research focuses on expanding the places where robots can be deployed. My lab, the Living with Robots Laboratory, has the mission of seeing robots in every home and workplace. To that end, I work on technologies to enable robots to operate in places designed for people, and technologies to enable robots to better interact with people. I am on the executive committee for RoboCup@Home. I am an assistant director of the UT Austin robotics research consortium, Texas Robotics. I am an associate editor for top conferences and journals in robotics. I work on problems relating to autonomous social human robot interaction, artificial intelligence, and robotics architectures.

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and the Head of the Laboratory for Genomics, Pharmacogenomics and Precision Health (PRECISE) at the Linda T. and John A Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to that, I served as the Head of the Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Program at the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A\*STAR) Singapore, as Assistant Professor (joint appointment) in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. I also served as a Faculty at the Centre for Precision Health (CPH) at the National University Health System (NUHS) in Singapore, the Pharmacogenomics Domain Expert for the Precision Medicine Coordination Office (PMCO) of the Ministry of Health, Singapore and on the NIH ClinGen, Pharmacogenomics Working Group (CLINGEN\_PGXWG) and the Executive board of the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network (PGRN). I bring a wealth of experience, leadership, and scientific expertise in cutting- edge "Genomics, Pharmacogenomics and Precision Health Research and Innovations". My recent work focuses on Genomics, Pharmacogenomics and Precision Health research in Oncology and Neuroscience. As a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on several University, NIH, CHIR, and NMRC funded grants, I have successfully developed and implemented multiple projects focused on genomics, pharmacogenomics and precision health; collaborated with many global researchers; and have produced several high impact peer-reviewed publications in top scientific journals including Nature Genetics and JAMA ONCOLOGY. I have received several awards and recognition for my academic and scientific contributions, including the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute Outstanding Achievement award, Boehringer Ingelheim Award, Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Publication Award and the American Society of Human Genetics outstanding papers award. I am currently a member of several scientific consortia and working groups including the PGRN Psychiatry Special Interest Group, NIH CLINGEN\_PGXWG Nomenclature Survey Subgroup, NIH CLINGEN\_PGXWG Gene-Drug Validity Subgroup, Pharmacogene Variation Consortium and CPNDS Pharmacogenomics Clinical Practice Recommendations Group. I am also a member of several academic and professional organizations including the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, British Pharmacological Society, European Society of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Therapy, American Society of Human Genetics, Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, International Genetic Epidemiology Society, European Society of Human Genetics and African Society of Human Genetics. I have served on the Editorial Board of several journals including the Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology and as an editorial reviewer and ad hoc reviewer for several journals including Nature Genetics, Circulation – Journal of the American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, MDPI Pharmaceutic, Pharmacogenetics and Genomics, Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Clinical Genetics and Pharmacogenomics – Future Medicine.

Dr. Nima Ziraknejad is a Co-Founder and CEO at NZ Technologies Inc., a machine vision and robotics company. He is also the Regional Lead for Western Canada at Auto21, a Canadian national research and development network. Dr. Ziraknejad obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2014, where his research focused on machine vision and robotics. He also holds a MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Prior to his current roles, Dr. Ziraknejad worked as a Product Manager at Weir Motion Metrics, where he was responsible for managing the development and commercialization of new products.

Dr. Agnew is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia and a principal at Agnew & Associates Medical Writing. His research and work focuses on the development and evaluation of health policy initiatives and medical writing support for academic, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries.

Dr. Arwa Kurabi is a highly experienced scientist with background in protein chemistry and molecular biology. She received her Ph.D. in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology from York University in 2009, where she focused on studying the structure and function of proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease. Prior to her Ph.D., Dr. Kurabi completed her Master's degree in Applied Biotechnology from the University of British Columbia in 2005. Her research during that time focused on developing novel techniques for protein enzyme purification and analysis. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Kurabi pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, in otology and ear diseases. She was involved in various projects studying protein interactions and their role in cellular processes and signaling pathways. She also utilized phage display and protein targeting to develop new drug delivery strategies for the ear. Dr. Kurabi then was promoted to Project Scientist academic trajectory where she started as an Assistant and then Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, San Diego. She gained valuable experience in basic and translational research. Her research during this time focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying otitis media and other otic diseases. she investigated the human immune responses using in vivo animal models and “humanized” model. She also utilized single-cell RNA-Seq and ATAC-seq to study cellular gene expression patterns to reveal how chromatin packaging and other factors affect gene expression in both human and murine middle ear tissue. Dr. Kurabi was selected to participate in a panel to determine the future of otitis media research at the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders (NIDCD) in October, 2020, being involved in group discussions with leaders in the field to sett new goals and draft a final report that was presented at NIDCD Workshop in 2021. With her extensive education and experience, Dr. Kurabi is a highly sought-after scientist. She has published numerous research articles in prestigious scientific journals and has presented her work at national and international conferences. Her dedication to advancing scientific knowledge and her expertise in the field make her a valuable asset to any research team.

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